Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby van Pelt

READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Jodie

Remarkably Bright Creatures features an all-knowing giant Pacific octopus as its key narrator. Marcellus knows only captivity and is astute in his observations of those observing him, which helps connect missing family members.

Day 1,361 of My Captiv- Oh, Let Us Cut the Shit, Shall We? We Have a Ring to Retrieve.

● Marcellus the Octopus was one of the three main narrators and was very cleverly written. He truly made this novel come together. I really enjoyed Marcellus’s observations on the humans in the novel which were laced with humour and wisdom. The novel itself was very character driven. The strength lay in the connection between Marcellus and Tova, one of the other narrators. Although at times I found the writing underwhelming and a little predictable, it was still a enjoyable novel to read. – Jodie

● Remarkably Bright Creatures told a heart-warming story of grief, loss and love. I looked forward to hearing from Marcellus (who provided a unique and often funny perspective) and Tova (practical and emotionally constrained) the most. Cameron was interesting but slightly annoying. He was portrayed as an incredibly clever person however he was unable to hold down a job for long and didn’t have any assets to speak of. He then seemed to make an implausible improvement by holding down a job, working at the aquarium and paying his aunt back – quite the turnaround! The story was predictable and easy to follow which made for a nice change. – Jo

● I ignored the convenient coincidences that were scattered by the author throughout this novel, as nothing could sully my love for a fictitious octopus named Marcellus. This was a light and lovely read and one that I became completely drawn into. – Suzy

● Marcellus the octopus was the star of this book. It took me a while to warm to Cameron and Tova but because I loved that cepholapod so much I didn’t want to stop reading. Rather than have a big reveal of secrets uncovered at the end, van Pelt chose to have the clever Marcellus tell us early on, and the plot driver then became him trying to find a way to alert those involved as to his revelations. I liked this narrative style. A light-hearted read that warmed the cockles of the heart. – Rachel

Published 2022
Ecco
360 pages